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Charles Leclerc weighs in after Toto Wolff comment sparks Vasseur rage Charles Leclerc trusts Fred Vasseur is 'on top' of Ferrari's development plan Charles Leclerc is confident Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is “on top” of the team’s development programme after Toto Wolff questioned the Scuderia’s spending in a budget cap era. Ferrari has clawed its way into this season’s championship fight on the back of two big upgrades that were introduced in Miami and Barcelona. Charles Leclerc addresses Ferrari development war after spending warning Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google for news you can trust. Ferrari brought 11 updates to the Miami Grand Prix, before another extensive package with eight new parts hit the track in Spain. The Scuderia has introduced new parts at every race bar Spa, where the upgrade programme was momentarily paused. This had Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff questioning whether Ferrari was burning through its budget. “Simply we’re a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do,” Wolff told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets. “In my opinion, they need to be running out of money soon, cost cap money, because we can’t do that, simply lacking the buffer and cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do.” Wolff’s comments led to an angry response by Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, at the British Grand Prix, with the Mercedes boss later calling Vasseur “very emotional.” Leclerc, though, isn’t worried Ferrari could find itself in trouble in the second half of this championship. “On that,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets, “I trust Fred more than anything. “Of course, there’s a lot of work from the team to try and push production and to try and push the creative minds behind the team in order to have upgrades as quickly and as efficiently as possible. “I’m sure Fred is on top of that. “Am I worried? I am not, because I fully trust Fred and I know that he knows what he’s doing.” Ferrari’s development over the course of the first half of the campaign saw the team win races in Barcelona and Silverstone, with Leclerc taking the team’s second win of the season after Lewis Hamilton won in Spain. The team is just 72 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship, while Hamilton trails Kimi Antonelli by 50 points in the drivers’ standings. F1 2026: The season’s winners and losers The results of the F1 2026 championship The F1 2026 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings Such is Leclerc’s confidence that Ferrari has kept its upgrade plan within the budget cap, he went into the summer break calling for the team to maintain its “aggressive” development. “It’s a championship again that the upgrade is so much more significant than in the past because it makes such a big step forward,” he said. “It’s going to be important that we stay on top of it, and that we keep being aggressive, as aggressive as we’ve been with the development program. “And we’ll see how it goes.” Vasseur has vowed that Ferrari will “keep the pace” in its upgrade plan throughout the 2026 season, while also assuring the Scuderia will improve its power unit. “We know that we have to improve on the engine side. We will do it, even if the inertia on the engine is much higher than the chassis,” he said. “The most important thing would be to be able to keep the pace into the development.” The cost cap is set at $215million for F1 2026, compared to a base of $135m in 2025, with an extra $1.8m per race allowed beyond the 21st grand prix. Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more! Read Next: Ferrari half-season review: F1 title challenge has shifted